What is the effect of eating one larger meal on a down day, versus spreading out the calories throughout the day? Up to this point I've been spreading them out, because I figured it would feel more "fast-like" to my body. Part of the reason I'm drawn to JUDDD is the health benefits of alternate day fasting.

If you save your dd cals, and eat them all at the end of the day, say dinner time, does it effectively end your fast and the related benefits?

I've done it both ways. I prefer eating about 150 calories or so during the day (and I am creative enough to make those pretty decently filling meals!) and to eat the bulk of my calories at night. I used to fast all day and eat more at night, but that seemed to promote binging behaviors on my UD's, while eating all day long on my DD's keeps binging at bay.

I was just having coffee with HWC for breakfast then a small lunch and small dinner. Today I had breakfast and lunch so far and I feel better. More energized. I don't mind a small dinner and my DH is gone a lot since he is a coach and I don't mind fixing him something to eat that I can't have. So for me from here on is to have 3 small meals on DD's. I don't usually snack so that is not a problem.

I have this terrible fear that I am going to get hungry late at night (with no calories left to eat) and won't be able to sleep. I can be hungry ALL DAY LONG and be okay with it, (though normally I'm not that hungry on DD's) but I am NOT interested in being hungry at bedtime!

So I usually don't eat until 4:00 on DD's, and then I prepare my food and spread it out until about 8:00. At 8:00 I have my shake, which is really pretty big because it has a lot of ice in it, and I'm nicely full when I go to bed.

I have not found this to cause any issues with my weight loss, and it's just as well not because I'm not going to bed hungry....ever!

So interesting I went web-surfing and learned a lot things (thanks for spurring me into researching this).

My takeaways:

1) There are a heck of a lot of 'experts' on the internet who appear to be repeating information they have been told. Said information appears to be largely unsupported by research and largely dependent on how knowledgeable the writer is able to sound.

2) Dr J must have been frustrated as heck when he first started his research.

3) The caloric stress response that brings us That Old JUDDD Magic seems to stop when the body has ingested over half the body's BMR ... or over half the body's RMR ... or over 700 calories ... or over 900 calories depending on which study you read.
Personally, I find the ones about over half of the BMR or RMR most believable because they do allow, to a degree, for individual metabolisms.

Anyway,DD calories, whether they are eaten all at once or spread out across the day, are likely to invoke caloric stress response and the the sirtuin enzyme production (that old JUDDD magic) we know and love.

UD calories, especially if we use Dr J's calculations (which, at least in my case, are higher than any of my calculated BMRs or RMRs) are high enough to, cumulatively, break the caloric stress response whether they are eaten all at once or spread out across the day.

MD calories are iffy and will depend on the number of calories and on the individual's metabolism.

4) Metabolism is even weirder than I thought it was (and I thought it was pretty durn weird - see the first sentence of #3).

The question of 'When does caloric stress response end and starvation mode begin'? Is truly based on each individual's metabolism. Putting that another way, starvation mode begins just around 24 hours for some people and as high as four days for others.

By breaking DDs into 36 hour segments, Dr J bracketed for most metabolisms. This helps explain why JUDDD, MUDDD, Eat-Stop-Eat, Fast Five, and other Intermittent Fasting WOEs work for many but not all bodies.

It may also explain why some people are able to fast on DD and lose weight, while other people need to eat somewhat above their calculated DD calories to lose. Ditto some of the weird extremes we see for individual UDs.

Bottom Line
I really don't think it matters what time of day or how many times a day, you eat on DD. EXCEPT as it matters to your individual metabolism. Try different patterns and figure out what is best for you.

(THAT was an awful lot of talk for a very obvious result, wasn't it? )

Nancy that was perfect and is so true. Everyone is so different. For some people we see JUDDD work like a dream right off the bat and then others it takes time for the JUDDD magic to hit and to even start losing any weight at all. Some even bounce up in the beginning if they start adding carbs quickly, ME FOR INSTANCE!!! LOL But it starts to work great if you can hang in there.

Personally, i have tried not eating all day and just eating in the evening and spreading out my calories. I like to spread my calories out because i feel better. When i was waiting until the evening to eat i didnt feel right at all. I felt really twitchy kinda, like i was on drugs, i felt really cold, and i was a total B____h!!!! It works better for em to actually eat up to my 500 adn even a little more and to spread them out. So now i make to have a protein shake around midmorning, either a protein shake or greek yogurt in the afternoon and i have a baggie i take to work with cut up cucumber, half an apple, celery, things like that. Then dinner is about 150 to 200 calories. On my weekend DD I try to eat with the family as much as i can so i have a nice big omelet for breakfast or maybe some psyllium/egg white pancakes. And i usually make a big huge pan of the cabbage chicken and cheese to eat for lunch and dinner.

In the last week or so, I have decreased my DD calories to less than 200 cal at dinner and I have struggled with binging on each of my UDs (some worse than others.) I am going to experiment with going back up to 350 cal. eating twice a day on my DDs this week and see if it helps. The binging is frustrating and making me sad and angry, but that hasn't been enough to stop it.

After watching the video that someone posted on here about alternate day fasting I have been not eating on DD until my evening meal. It was hard the first day but has gotten easier. I think this is my 4th DD eating this way. It was a very informative video series that touched more on the health benefits of ADF. I have been JUDDDing for one month tomorrow and will be weighing tomorrow to see how much I have lost. Regardless of what the scales say I feel better and I got into a pair of jeans that I haven't worn in a long time!!

Months ago when I was considering JUDDDing, someone (I think it was Pat) listed one of the benefits of JUDDD is learning the difference between real hunger and mind hunger. That seemed very important to me.

I include in that learning not just how do I feel today, but also how do I feel tomorrow?

WWC, I think you are very wise to suspect there is a relationship be your DD and your UD. Upping your DD calories to see if UD binging becomes more controllable is a really great test. Please let us know what happens.

I've done it both ways. I prefer eating about 150 calories or so during the day (and I am creative enough to make those pretty decently filling meals!) and to eat the bulk of my calories at night. I used to fast all day and eat more at night, but that seemed to promote binging behaviors on my UD's, while eating all day long on my DD's keeps binging at bay.

How do u think this helps you??? Is it the feast and famine feeling ??

yes--although I am doing much better with the binging stuff since I read the book Brain over Binge--very helpful. For me, too much deprivation triggers binging--I have to be very careful with that. I find that fasting til late morning is best, followed by some limited calories and a good dinner.

gotsomeold - thank you for that well-researched and well written answer. I will keep experimenting with different down day "scenarios" and see how my body responds.

It seems like lots of variations are equally effective, not just at weight loss, but the whole feelings on down days: real hunger, head hunger, *****iness. I had been changing my down days to not eat until lunch time, and coincidentally, that's when I started having binging issues. Interesting.

Because JUDDD is so flexible in terms of when and what we eat (within the calculated calories), JUDDD is an awesome opportunity to learn. Many of us find eating on one day has a huge impact on the next day.

Sometimes I feel like the things I am learning about myself may be as or more important to my long term health than the weight loss.....although I haven't myself complaining about losing weight.

yes--although I am doing much better with the binging stuff since I read the book Brain over Binge--very helpful. For me, too much deprivation triggers binging--I have to be very careful with that. I find that fasting til late morning is best, followed by some limited calories and a good dinner.

Thanks ouizoid...Yesterday was a DD for me and ate mid afternoon and again at dinner. I want to see if this helps my upday today not getting out of control. I bought the book on my nook and half way through. What a great read and a differant perspective of binge/purge behavior.

"Sometimes I feel like the things I am learning about myself may be as or more important to my long term health than the weight loss.....although I haven't myself complaining about losing weight."

Ain't that the truth! If you look at the oldest threads on LCF about JUDDD THAT is the message that repeats over and over again--that JUDDD teaches us things about ourselves that we did not know--it is such a wonderful opportunity--
__________________

"Sometimes I feel like the things I am learning about myself may be as or more important to my long term health than the weight loss.....although I haven't myself complaining about losing weight."

Ain't that the truth! If you look at the oldest threads on LCF about JUDDD THAT is the message that repeats over and over again--that JUDDD teaches us things about ourselves that we did not know--it is such a wonderful opportunity--

^^^^^ This...ITA!!!

__________________Shirl

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13

"You must do the thing you think you cannot do." Eleanor Roosevelt

"You can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips." Oliver Goldsmith